“AΦE is a dance company founded in 2016 and led by artistic co-directors Esteban Lecoq (FR) and Aoi Nakamura (JP), creates installations and performances between dance and immersive realities. These visceral experiences, borrowed from science fiction references, question our contemporary relationship with new technologies. Somewhere between misappropriation, reappropriation and forward-looking vision, these interactive works place the audience at the centre of the creative and narrative process, offering a new space for exploration between bodies, spaces and technologies.
As trailblazers in this area, they were the UK’s first dance company to tour VR and AR productions internationally. Their productions – LILITH.AEON (2024), LILITH AI Lecture Performance (2025), WHIST (2017) and 0AR (2018) – have successfully toured 20 countries and over 80 venues. They have partnered with high-end technology companies and research institutions, including Scan Computers, NVIDIA, Epson, Framestore, and Happy Finish, who they are inviting into the dance world to push their boundaries. They received support from the most prestigious venues and organisations, including Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, Sydney Festival, Théâtre de Chaillot in Paris, Innovate UK, French Institute and Arts Council England.
AΦE became associate artists of iCCi/University of Kent and launched A+E Lab, AΦE’s new home and charitable arm, a new digital and cultural hub located in Historic Dockyard Chatham in 2022. A+E Lab revolves around three key strands of activity: the creation and touring of innovative work through AΦE’s productions, the delivery of community & artist engagement programmes related to technology and culture, and the presentation and curation of high-quality work, including artistic residencies.
Since establishing their base at Historic Dockyard Chatham, they’ve delivered significant activities, including ALT*MED Festival featuring TAPE (which received exceptional visitor response) and the first UK-based Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL). In spring 2025, we successfully delivered our Digital Artists in Residence program, Extended Reality Sunday Social, and 2nd International CCL.
A+E Lab’s mission is to democratise access to culture and digital tools and skills and provide networking opportunities and access to space and equipment to creative practitioners in the fields of Culture and Technology. They aim to establish Medway as a vibrant cultural hub with national and international networks connecting to local projects. AΦE and A+E Lab activities engaged over 101,000 live audiences and participants.
Individually, Aoi and Esteban have danced at major dance companies since 2006 in the UK and Europe, including Jasmin Vardimon Company, Punchdrunk, and German Staatstheaters. They began their choreographic practice in 2008 and started their collaboration in 2013.
“
